Fires Massachusetts

The owner of a warehouse site in Worcester, Mass., where six firefighters died battling a blaze, is offering the land for a permanent tribute. The six men died Dec. 3 while trying to save homeless people believed to be inside the burning building. The city is considering Ding On Kwan's offer, City Manager Thomas Hoover said, but Kwan must continue to remove the crumbling rubble.

The legal and psychological embers of a 1999 warehouse fire that killed six firefighters continue to smolder here, with the district attorney appealing the dismissal of manslaughter charges against a homeless couple accused of causing the blaze. A brief filed late Tuesday by Dist. Atty. John J. Conte's office contends that Superior Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman erred in concluding that Thomas S.

Fire roared through a boatyard in this posh coastal town Wednesday, cloaking the village with dense smoke and disrupting nearby commuter train service, authorities said. Two firefighters were injured while battling the blaze.

The families of six firefighters who died in a Dec. 3 warehouse blaze in Worcester, Mass., could receive federal payments of $146,000 apiece by March, the Justice Department said. The Worcester Fire Department officers died after two went into the burning warehouse to look for homeless people they believed might have been trapped inside. The four others were members of a rescue party sent in to find the first two.

A small plane crashed and destroyed three houses in Boston, killing at least one person and touching off a nine-alarm fire, police said. At least three people were injured. A spokesman for the city's Health and Hospital Department said the death toll from the crash in the city's Dorchester section could go as high as five.

A fire swept through a two-story home early Sunday, killing a family of five and a friend, officials said. They said the blaze was probably caused by careless smoking. It was the worst fire in Boston since 1972, when nine firefighters died battling a blaze at the Hotel Vendome, authorities said.

An offshore drilling platform caught fire, and a fuel tank aboard exploded Saturday, and authorities said they would have to let the blaze burn itself out. The initial fire broke out about 4:15 a.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Elizabeth Brannan said. About four hours later, a fuel tank on board the platform exploded, forcing two groups of firefighters off the deck.

The families of six firefighters who died in a Dec. 3 warehouse blaze in Worcester, Mass., could receive federal payments of $146,000 apiece by March, the Justice Department said. The Worcester Fire Department officers died after two went into the burning warehouse to look for homeless people they believed might have been trapped inside. The four others were members of a rescue party sent in to find the first two.

The legal and psychological embers of a 1999 warehouse fire that killed six firefighters continue to smolder here, with the district attorney appealing the dismissal of manslaughter charges against a homeless couple accused of causing the blaze. A brief filed late Tuesday by Dist. Atty. John J. Conte's office contends that Superior Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman erred in concluding that Thomas S.

Fire broke out Friday at the 27-story John F. Kennedy Federal Building after repeated explosions on upper floors where renovation work is under way, authorities said. No serious injuries were reported. The blaze was quickly controlled.

The owner of a warehouse site in Worcester, Mass., where six firefighters died battling a blaze, is offering the land for a permanent tribute. The six men died Dec. 3 while trying to save homeless people believed to be inside the burning building. The city is considering Ding On Kwan's offer, City Manager Thomas Hoover said, but Kwan must continue to remove the crumbling rubble.

The remains of three of the six firefighters killed in a huge warehouse blaze were found Saturday. The body of Paul A. Brotherton, 41, discovered about 9:30 p.m., was the sixth to be found. Officials said he and another firefighter had gone into the building Dec. 3 to search for homeless people, and family members believe it was his voice heard over the radio, crying out, "Mayday! Mayday! We're running out of air!"

Backhoes halted. Searchers combing through rubble for the remains of four firefighters ceased working. Families gathered in the pelting rain. At 6:13 p.m. Friday--a week to the moment that the first alarm summoned firefighters to a vacant warehouse where six would die--searchers and the families of those killed in the blaze paused for a minute of silence, which was followed by a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace."

His name was Tim, a beefy Vietnam War veteran who rode a Harley and raised prize lilacs. Fifty-one-year-old Timothy Jackson had a screaming eagle tattoo on his shoulder, 27 years on the Worcester Fire Department and a face, friends said, like the Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz." But Jackson had courage in abundance: "He was a real brave kid," said Jim Cassos, a classmate from Worcester Boys Trade High School.

A homeless couple who allegedly knocked over a candle during an argument were charged with involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in connection with the warehouse blaze that killed six firefighters. Thomas S. Levesque, 37, and Julie S. Barnes, 19, had been living together on the second floor of the abandoned warehouse for several months, Dist. Atty. John J. Conte said. The Friday night fire ignited clothing and papers, Conte said.

Tim Jewell is a tough guy, a 50-year-old bartender who does not make a habit of displaying his emotions. On Sunday morning, in tears, Jewell told his wife, Kathy, that they should return all the Christmas presents they'd bought each other and give the money instead to the families of the six firefighters who died here Friday in a terrible warehouse blaze. "I'll be here next year," Jewell told Kathy. "They won't."

The remains of three of the six firefighters killed in a huge warehouse blaze were found Saturday. The body of Paul A. Brotherton, 41, discovered about 9:30 p.m., was the sixth to be found. Officials said he and another firefighter had gone into the building Dec. 3 to search for homeless people, and family members believe it was his voice heard over the radio, crying out, "Mayday! Mayday! We're running out of air!"

A homeless couple who allegedly knocked over a candle during an argument were charged with involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in connection with the warehouse blaze that killed six firefighters. Thomas S. Levesque, 37, and Julie S. Barnes, 19, had been living together on the second floor of the abandoned warehouse for several months, Dist. Atty. John J. Conte said. The Friday night fire ignited clothing and papers, Conte said.

The first two firefighters headed into the burning warehouse to search for homeless people who might be inside. Minutes later, a voice crackled over the radio: "Mayday! Mayday! We're running out of air." Four other firefighters disappeared into the smoke in an attempt to rescue their colleagues. None returned. The six Worcester firefighters are believed to have perished in the five-story conflagration that continued to burn Saturday morning. "It's three weeks before Christmas.

Two firefighters were killed and four were feared lost while battling a fire in an abandoned industrial building Friday night, authorities said. Police confirmed two deaths, and family members of all six firefighters were notified and asked to gather at a local church, said a Worcester Fire Department captain who declined to give his name. All were feared dead, he said. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the first two firefighters went into the five-story building together and got lost.